Saudi FM says working on list of Qatar ‘grievances’

Arab News
June 17, 2017

London, Jun 17: A list of grievances involving Qatar is being drawn up and will be made public soon, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said Friday.Saudi

Al-Jubeir said Qatar should respond to demands to halt its support for “extremism and terrorism” which, he said, were being made by the whole world and not just Gulf states.

Speaking to journalists in London, Al-Jubeir said: “I would not call them demands. I would say it is a list of grievances that need to be addressed and that the Qataris need to fix.

“We are working on those with our Bahraini, Emirati and Egyptian partners in order to compile this list and present it to the Qataris, and I think it will be done fairly soon.”

Meanwhile, the permanent missions of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain at the UN in Geneva have issued a statement in response to the UN human rights commissioner’s comment on the measures taken by the three Gulf countries and Egypt against Doha, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

“The decision to cut ties with Qatar is a sovereign right of the states concerned and it aims to protect their national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism,” said the statement.

The statement added that the action was taken after all possible means were exhausted as a result of Qatar’s failure to comply with the Riyadh Agreement for the return of ambassadors, and its continued support, funding, and hosting of terrorist, extremist and sectarian organizations.

These decisions, the statement said, were taken in full conformity with the fundamental principles of international law.

For the sake of “our brotherly Qatari people... it was decided to take several measures aimed at addressing humanitarian and health cases, establish hot lines in each country so that cases can be reported and appropriate action be taken in a manner consistent with international obligations under international human rights law and our long humanitarian traditions,” the statement said.

It also said that the Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini missions “reaffirm their willingness to continue working with the parties concerned in order to achieve the desired results of this break-up, namely to maintain security, to combat terrorism and to safeguard the stability and well-being of the people of the region, including the brotherly Qatari people, in full respect for their human rights and international humanitarian law’s commitments.”

In another development, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday for talks with King Salman, continuing efforts to resolve the diplomatic crisis.

After meeting his Kuwaiti counterpart on Thursday, Cavusoglu was to travel from Jeddah to the holy city of Makkah where King Salman is based for the last days of Ramadan.

Turkey's chief diplomat was in Doha on Wednesday where he called for dialogue after meeting Qatar's emir and foreign minister ahead of his Saudi stop.

"Although the Kingdom is a party in this crisis, we know that King Salman is a party in resolving it," Cavusoglu said earlier.

"We want to hear the views of Saudi Arabia regarding possible solutions and will share with them our views in a transparent way... We pay great attention to our relations with them," he said.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Cairo, May 20: A senior Kuwaiti lawmaker has called for imposing a tax on expatriates’ remittances to shore up the country’s finances.

MP Khalil Al Saleh, the head of the parliament’s Human Resources Committee, has presented a draft law on the proposed tax to the legislature.

“Imposing fees on expatriates’ transfers will have a role in improving the state's revenues and diversify sources of income,” he told Al Rai newspaper.

Migrant workers transfer about 4.2 billion dinars annually from Kuwait, he added, citing figures from Kuwait’s Central Bank.

“This system is in effect in most countries of the world and in more than one Gulf country. Expats there have not objected to it. Allowing this money to exit the country is very dangerous and has a direct effect on economy,” MP Al Saleh said.

“We do not target brotherly expats because imposing symbolic fees on financial transfers will not affect their money, but will have a positive effect on the state’s sources,” he said. “This has become a necessity after the money transferred outside Kuwait has reached 4.2 billion dinars annually without the state [Kuwait] making any benefit from this.”

Foreign workers make up 3.3 million of Kuwait’s 4.6 million population.

Several Kuwaiti public figures have recently pushed for redrawing the demographic imbalance in the country, accusing expatriates of straining health facilities and increasing the Covid-19 threat.

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News Network
May 19,2020

Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates today reported 873 new coronavirus cases, pushing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 25,063.

Three more people have died from the virus, bringing the total death toll to 227, the ministry revealed, adding that a total of 1,214 COVID-19 patients have made full recovery, which takes the overall number of patients recovered to 10,791.

The latest coronavirus patients, all of whom are in a stable condition and receiving the necessary care, were identified after conducting more than 38,000 additional COVID-19 tests among UAE citizens and residents over the past few days, the ministry said.

It expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to all patients, calling on the public to cooperate with health authorities and comply with all precautionary measures, particularly social distancing protocols, to ensure the safety and protection of the public.

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Gulf News
April 12,2020

Dubai, Apr 12: Saudi Arabia reported 429 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 4462, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

The ministry also confirmed 7 deaths bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 59.

According to the ministry of health the number of recoveries are 41 cases, making total of recoveries 761.

Ministry also said that 40,000 have been quarantined since the beginning of the epidemic, and only 7,000 remain in quarantine, including those who recently returned from abroad.

Extension of curfew

Early on Sunday, King Salman approved the extension of curfew until further notice due to current rates of coronavirus spread, the official news agency SPA announced.

Earlier last week, Saudi Arabia imposed a 24-hour curfew and lockdown on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar.

Authorities had already sealed off the holy cities of Makkah and Medina along with Riyadh and Jeddah, barring people from entering and exiting as well as prohibiting movement between all provinces.

Total lockdown on Medina neighbourhoods

The Ministry of Interior also announced a total lockdown on five neighbourhoods in Medina on thursday until further notice. The neighborhoods include Al Sherbat; Bani Dhafar; Qurban, Al Jumuah; and parts of Al Iskan district and Bani Khudrah. No one is allowed to enter or exit these areas.

An official source from the ministry highlighted that the Ministry of Labor and Social Development will provide residents of these neighbourhoods with food baskets and will follow up on their needs while the ministry of health will provide them with necessary medications.

Saudi Arabia, which has reported the highest number of infections in the Gulf, is making every possible effort to limit the spread of the disease at home.

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